Activision Blizzard Partners with Nielsen on Esports Brand Valuation

Activision Blizzard, Inc. announced it is partnering with Nielsen to measure and value esports brand investments across the company’s multiple leagues and titles. Nielsen Esports provides trusted data and insights to support key stakeholders investing in the rapidly evolving world of esports.

The deal demonstrates Activision Blizzard’s commitment to its advertisers and third-party verification. As part of the deal, Nielsen will measure brand exposure in esports events representing a variety of Activision Blizzard titles, event formats and geographic locations based on the same methodology that Nielsen uses to quantify value and benchmark performance for traditional sports rights holders and brands.

“As esports continues to mature and reach its potential as a stand-alone business, we’re determined to lead the way and develop best practices for brands and advertisers,” said Pete Vlastelica, CEO of Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues. “We’re excited to partner with the most experienced and respected measurement service in Nielsen and continue building on our foundation of the best esports leagues in the world.”

“Esports is booming and there’s huge market potential,” said Nicole Pike, Managing Director and Head of Nielsen Esports. “We’re thrilled to be working closely with Activision Blizzard, who has taken initiative in leading the market forward.”

Nielsen will begin tracking Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch League, Overwatch World Cup and Overwatch Contenders this year, as well as Activision’s Call of Duty® World League, with plans to expand to other programs in the coming year.

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Activision Blizzard, Inc., a member of the Fortune 500 and S&P 500, is the world’s most successful standalone interactive entertainment company. We delight hundreds of millions monthly active users around the world through franchises including Activision’s Call of Duty®, Destiny and Skylanders®, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Hearthstone®, Diablo®, StarCraft®, and Heroes of the Storm®, and King’s Candy Crush™, Pet Rescue™, Bubble Witch™ and Farm Heroes™. The company is one of the Fortune “100 Best Companies To Work For.®” Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard has operations throughout the world, and its games are played in 196 countries. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activisionblizzard.com.